Tesla shares tumble on resignations, Musk antics

Shares of Tesla Motors tumbled Friday as investors were rattled by the departures of two executives and a late-night interview in which chief executive Elon Musk was seen smoking marijuana.

Tesla shares sank 6.3 per cent to close at $263.24 after the latest events that heightened concerns over Musk’s erratic management style at the electric carmaker.

“Elon’s actions are making it harder and harder to support Tesla as a company,” said analyst Gene Munster of Loup Ventures.

“His actions directly affect Tesla’s share price because Elon is Tesla.”

Munster said that while there may be more “upside” to Tesla, Musk’s actions are hurting.

“The use of recreational drugs, legal or not, goes against the unspoken rules of being a public CEO,” the analyst said in a blog post.

Shares came under pressure at the opening following the Musk online interview and news that chief accounting officer Dave Morton was leaving only a month on the job, citing the company’s frenetic pace.

Separately, human resources chief Gabrielle Toledano told Bloomberg she planned to exit the company, rather than return from a leave of absence.

Morton’s departure further roiled the company, which has been under heightened scrutiny since Musk’s chaotic Twitter announcement on August 7 that he was considering taking Tesla private, before reversing the plan two weeks later.

The ill-fated effort has prompted a US securities investigation and a classaction lawsuit alleging Musk was trying to punish investors who bet against the company. Morton’s brief tenure with the company coincided with the aborted go-private push.

Musk turned heads with a more than two-hour podcast interview with comedian Joe Rogan in which he drank whiskey and appeared to smoke a marijuana-andtobacco cigarette proffered by the comedian as he mused about artificial intelligence and colonising space.